I just finished my second attempt at eating pumpin seeds--this time home roasted with EVOO and dash of sea salt and I feel just like I used to when I ate Fritos!!

Oh my goodness, I feel terrible!

Earlier this week I bought a small bag of Pepitos (think that's what they were called) in the Mexican Food section of the Grocery Store. They made me feel sick, too--but they were roasted in a vegetable oil of undetermined origin, so I attributed my yuckiness to that.

I just drank about 24oz of Black Cherry Juice and it seems to be helping a bit...think I'll make some Pineapple Juice....right after I dump these Seeds From Satan into the trash can!

I guess this was my Halloween Trick---It sure wasn't anything close to the treat I was hoping for!

Myra.

(I'm the one with the Green Face)

"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience." Pierre Teilhard de Chardinhttp://www.stillspeaking.com

MyraBee--see if you can find the hulled seeds at your local health food or natural foods store. You definitely don't want to consume the hulls. There's eating plenty of fiber, and then there's eating brillo pads.

Don't feel bad. I made the same mistake the first time I ever ate pepitas. Couldn't understand why people liked 'em, then someone showed me a hulled seed. Oops. *chuckle* Live and learn!

I love the shells when the seeds are fresh from the pumpkin. Fresh roasted pumpkin seeds in the shell are one of my very favorite foods.

However, for store-bought seeds, the kind in the shell tend to be over-salted so much that I don't know who would like them because I am a salt fiend and I find them too salty. And if I find something too salty, it is dern salty. The brand of pumpkin seeds I adore is shelled and is called Eden Organic Roasted Pumpkin Seeds (I like the plain, salted ones, but they also have spicy and some other flavors, I think). They are wonderful and it is about time some company came out with a decent brand of pumpkin seeds because, previously, the choices were either the drastically oversalted-in-the-shell kind, or the hideous RAW "pepitas" in the bulk section of the HFS---eeeeew! No, one needs the seeds roasted, raw is NOT good. Eden's roasted, shelled pumpkin seeds are great (and organic).

Still, though, for fresh seeds right from the pumpkin, they are delicious and a great source of fiber when roasted and consumed, shell and all.

"If you are on one of Dr. D's diets and it isn't joyful, you aren't doing it right."- moi

I am in agreement with Twisty. Fresh pumpkin seeds (meaning the ones you just pulled out of that pumpkin you are about to bake - or have already baked, depending on your method) with the shells still on, roasted in a bit of ghee and salt, are delicious. For other times, I buy the shelled (meaning no shells) raw pumpkin seeds from the HFS and toast them in a dry cast iron pan on the stove and pour a tiny amount of wf tamari on them at the very end. Yum! Tastes a bit like bacon.

â€śThose who say it canâ€™t be done need to get out of the way of those who are doing it.â€ť

Me too...first time I ever ate pumpkin seeds I had purchased them from the grocery store. Besides having such a thick shell they were coated heavily in salt. Now...I like my salt, but this was awful. Love the ones from the fresh carved pumpkins for Hallowe'en...and the shelled organic ones from the HF stores and organic pumpkin seed butter. hmmmm...where are my carrots?

Debra

"Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves." C.G. Jung"

The ones that I consumed came from the pie pumpkin that I baked and then roasted and salted. I ate the shells too but did not do well with them at all. I normally eat the raw ones from the HF. I have never roasted them, will have to try that...but no more shells for me. Debra, can one eat too many carrotts??? The palms of my hands seem to have a bit of an orange cast to them????

Well, I just roasted a big batch of raw (hulled) green pumpkin seeds from WF. Melted some ghee and mixed into seeds with a bit of sea salt. Roasted in the oven at 230 for about 20 minutes. Very good. I would up the degrees just a wee bit next time (whatever method one roasts seeds they have to adjust for oven, burner, whatever to make sure they don't burn.

The ones that I consumed came from the pie pumpkin that I baked and then roasted and salted. I ate the shells too but did not do well with them at all. I normally eat the raw ones from the HF. I have never roasted them, will have to try that...but no more shells for me.

Debra, can one eat too many carrotts??? The palms of my hands seem to have a bit of an orange cast to them????

You could always eat them with rubber gloves!

Debra

"Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves." C.G. Jung"

If you eat lots of foods with beta carotene in them--carrots, winter squash, sweet potatoes--your skin can turn a bit orange. It won't hurt you, you'll just look like you're using a bad tanning lotion or something. If you want to get rid of the orange color, just cut back on the carrots.

I'm with you, Myra. I've tried pumpkin seeds (purchased seedless from the hfs), and I just don't like them. I hate to waste anything, so I've been trying my best to finish off what's left. Maybe I'll try baking them with some ghee as others suggest. They arent' bad tossed into a salad since the other stuff covers up the taste.

When I was a kid I loved the pumpkin seeds in the shells purchased from the store. I used to suck all the salt off, which was the best part in my humble opinion.

Well, just another comment on this thread......I was in the HFS last week-end and noticed some raw, shelled pumpkin seeds with nothing added. I decided to give them one more try since they are a Bene for me---and guess what?!

They did not make me sick!! I can't say that I loved them--but I at least liked them--and will occasionally have them again.

This ongoing figuring-it-out story sure gives a lot of creedance to food additive and processing cautions, doesn't it?

My.

"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience." Pierre Teilhard de Chardinhttp://www.stillspeaking.com

Personally, I think purchasing raw, organic pumpkin seeds are a great healthy investment when shopping at a HFS as opposed to buying commercial pre-packaged pumpkin seeds.

You can toast raw pumpkin seeds on the stovetop or in the oven. Add your own spices and other condiments at home to jazz them up: wheat free tamari, sea salt, dry mustard, tumeric, cumin, seaweed flakes, chili peppers, olive oil, ghee, or anything one desires.

I like pumpkin seeds raw but they sure don't like me, so I soak them overnight and roast them gently, the same process I use with nuts. Yum! I keep a bag of them in my cubbyhole at work and when everyone else is munching Cheez-Its or Combos (which used to be my favorite savory snack), I grab the pepitas and munch too. Add some cayenne and tamari--woooo! Good stuff!

I dragged this thread up as I was searching for pumpkin seed info... I ate some raw & altho' I loved their simple taste & crunch, I seemed to react with very slight indigestion (only when I went to bed some hours later) I also got usual inflammation on face reaction, but not till morning - usually it an be within half an hour Not sure if that was also because I had bought them from a bulk bin (who knows how fresh?) & also had not thought to keep them in the fridge...(*duh*) They are also medium on the salicylate list so could be a factor too I ate them with mackerel, as I felt like I needed the B vitamins...Was a yummy meal!! What sort of reactions do other people get?

As an A, I have been making myself what I thought was a healthy mix for snacking. As an explorer, peanuts and pumpkin seeds from my mix are avoids for me. Many other things as well I discovered are now avoids as well. I will miss them.

Was honored to represent the BTD in the First for women magazine. Shelley

PrincessMia, are you following SWAMI or the GT book? I get pumpkin seeds as superfood in my SWAMI. I had some last night and got big time stomach pain had to take Deflect before bed and this morning - DD had a stomach flu this weekend, I wonder if that's it?

Hi, I am new to this site and was hoping to get some help. I am also type A- and was pegged as an explorer based on the books tests. I don't know my secretor status (can't seem to get it here in BC Canada). However, when I did the strength test in the book, I tested evenly with Teacher, Explorer, and Warrior!! I am so confused and really don't know where to go from here. I keep seeing SWAMI a lot on the site. What is is and why would it give different results than those from the tests in the book? Can your genotype change over time? Please help!

SWAMI is really fantastic!!! You know how the GenoType takes a bunch of information and puts you in a classification? Well SWAMI takes even more lots more and runs you through a computer matrix system. The result is an individual diet, designed just for you. You'll notice when you look around the forums, we all seem to have different food options, even though we may be the same blood type or geno type - that's SWAMI! A diet as individual as you are

When you purchase a SWAMI, what you receive in the mail is an access code, then you go online and it has you enter a bunch of information - some is time-locked, some you can go back and change again and again as you gather the goods. It asks for your personal health history, family medical history, that kind of thing. It has room for tons more information that you probably won't know, but that's okay, whatever you input will be enough, so don't feel like you won't get the full benefit because you have to leave a lot of blanks.

This is an example SWAMI : It's very sophistacted, but extremely easy to use. I was completely intimidated at first, but it turned out to be a lot of fun!

Hi Fran!! Sorry you are confused (I can understand that) Swami is especially good apparently for people like that...Nonnies (non secretors & explorer types) It is a computer programme you buy that you input your details into & it computes your strength testing for a particular genoptype, but it is really a combo of & unique to you!!

I have been eating pumpkin seeds for years and never noticed any negative reaction at all. And now SWAMI also says are diamond...

But I have to eat pureed food right now, or things that break up without grinding anyway. (Have braces on teeth to move them to support new jaw position needed due to TMJD and don't now have a 'splint' that fits to enable me to chew... probably another 6 - 9 months before I will be able to chew well! )

Anyway, the other day I pureed some GoRaw sprouted pumpkin seeds, moistening with a little walnut oil (which I eat all the time with no problems). And have had it in the fridge to eat now and then.

Yesterday I had a really busy day and short on time to eat, so I spread some of the p.seed 'butter' on a couple slices sprouted spelt bread and snacked on that over a 4 hour period in the evening while working...

And this morning I woke up to diarrhea pretty much all day long. Didn't connect the dots until reading this thread just now!

Since I never had this reaction to pumpkin seeds before, I'm guessing it must be because I didn't have much other food to eat all day. Probably just overkill on the p.seeds, hmm? Or someone above mentioned an effect on parasites? That doesn't sound good. Or maybe it IS good and they were expelled??

"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is."(American baseball player and manager Yogi Berra, or computer scientist Jan L. A. van de Snepscheut, or physicist Albert Einstein - depending on the source...)

Yeah, it can be puzzling... but I think I will decide not to stress out over it!

It does remind me though, that restricting my food intake can be a bit 'un-balancing'.

"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is."(American baseball player and manager Yogi Berra, or computer scientist Jan L. A. van de Snepscheut, or physicist Albert Einstein - depending on the source...)

Yesterday I had a really busy day and short on time to eat, so I spread some of the p.seed 'butter' on a couple slices sprouted spelt bread and snacked on that over a 4 hour period in the evening while working...

And this morning I woke up to diarrhea pretty much all day long. Didn't connect the dots until reading this thread just now!

Since I never had this reaction to pumpkin seeds before, I'm guessing it must be because I didn't have much other food to eat all day. Probably just overkill on the p.seeds, hmm? Or someone above mentioned an effect on parasites? That doesn't sound good. Or maybe it IS good and they were expelled??

It sounds like it was possibly a combination of too much reliance on this one beneficial food and it's healing effects on you. As long as you felt OK even with the D, it was probably a healing episode and good for you.

In my case I tried coconut oil earlier in the week which set things off. I don't like pumpkin seeds much so won't worry. Once in a while I pick up the commercial roasted David's seeds, its one of the few snacks at the convenience store. The reaction was really bad though.

It sounds like it was possibly a combination of too much reliance on this one beneficial food and it's healing effects on you. As long as you felt OK even with the D, it was probably a healing episode and good for you.

I think that is a pretty good perspective... in fact, I think regular use of pumpkin seeds might be a good way to 'up' my magnesium naturally now that I am also supplementing with Vit D3 (though not calcium). Should be able to avoid constipation that way... just need to NOT overdo it!

I didn't feel great with the d, but I got some extra rest and fasted a bit and felt much better when it was all finished...

"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is."(American baseball player and manager Yogi Berra, or computer scientist Jan L. A. van de Snepscheut, or physicist Albert Einstein - depending on the source...)

In my case I tried coconut oil earlier in the week which set things off. I don't like pumpkin seeds much so won't worry. Once in a while I pick up the commercial roasted David's seeds, its one of the few snacks at the convenience store. The reaction was really bad though.

SWAMI tells me 'no coconut oil'. Apparently only O-non is able to have it? Do you know your secretor status?

I also like Eden foods organic p. seeds, though they are roasted...

"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is."(American baseball player and manager Yogi Berra, or computer scientist Jan L. A. van de Snepscheut, or physicist Albert Einstein - depending on the source...)

I can't say that I loved them--but I at least liked them--and will occasionally have them again.

Hi MyraBee, don't know if you've already tried this but I've found that I like to use raw pumpkin seeds in salads. They take on the flavor of the dressing pretty well, especially oil-based ones, and add a nice sort of semi-crunchy texture to a salad.

(And, not that it's thread-related, just wondering if you're a Jayhawk or a Wildcat fan?)

Compliant, me?!? ... I even attended a university whose mascot is one of my â—† Superfoods!What is food to one man is bitter poison to others.~ Titus Lucretius Carus